Marilyn Manson Signs With Record Label, Teases First New Music Since Sexual Abuse Accusations
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[Trigger warning: this article contains descriptions of domestic violence, as well as sexual and physical abuse.]
Marilyn Manson has signed a record deal with indie metal label Nuclear Blast, Billboard has confirmed.
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In a statement sent to Billboard, the label said it is “heralding a new phase in the career of this iconic metal artist,” though it declined to provide further details on the nature of the deal. On Wednesday (May 15), the label shared a video of Manson on Instagram that appeared to tease new music.
Rolling Stone was first to report the signing.
The news comes more than three years after Manson (born Brian Warner) was dropped by his previous record label, Loma Vista Recordings, after his former girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood and several other women accused the rock musician of sexual abuse. Following the allegations, Manson was also dropped by his agency, CAA, and longtime manager Tony Ciulla.
After previously disclosing that she was sexually abused by an unnamed perpetrator, Wood named Manson as the culprit on Feb. 1, 2021, via a statement on Instagram, in which she shared that the rocker started “grooming” her when she was a teenager and “horrifically abused” her for years. After she went public, at least a dozen other women came forward with similar allegations, including three more former girlfriends: Game of Thrones star Esme Bianco, Ashley Morgan Smithline and a Jane Doe. Manson’s former personal assistant, Ashley Walters, also accused him of sexual assault.
In the wake of the accusations, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department opened a criminal investigation into reports of domestic violence perpetrated by Manson between 2009 and 2011. The findings were submitted to the L.A. District Attorney’s office in September 2022, though prosecutors at the time said they needed more evidence before considering criminal charges.
Manson was also sued by several of his alleged victims, including Bianco, Walters, the Jane Doe, Smithline and a second Jane Doe who claimed Manson had sexually assaulted her while she was underage. The lawsuits filed by two of the women — Walters and Smithline — were subsequently dismissed, while Manson settled out of court with Bianco and the first Jane Doe. Smithline later recanted her allegations, claiming Wood and others had “manipulated” her to “spread publicly false accusations of abuse” against Manson. Last December, an appeals court revived Walters’ case, ruling that the trauma she claims to have suffered may have led her to suppress memories of the alleged abuse, thereby allowing her to override the two-year statute of limitations in California.
Manson has denied all of the women’s allegations.
While he hasn’t released an album since 2020’s We Are Chaos, Manson’s career appears to be picking up steam. In March, he announced his first live dates in nearly five years, revealing that he and Russian deathcore band Slaughter to Prevail would embark on a 30-date arena/amphitheater tour with Five Finger Death Punch that begins in August.
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